The Cowboys (1972)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Mark Rydell

Writers:

William Dale Jennings (novel)
Irving Ravetch (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

13 January 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Western

Tagline:

All they wanted was their chance to be men...and he gave it to them.

Plot:

When his cattle drivers abandon him for the gold fields, rancher Wil Andersen is forced to take on a...

Plot Keywords:

Cattle | Rancher | Hangover | Gold Rush | Rustling

Awards:

1 win

Cast

John Wayne	...	Wil Andersen
Roscoe Lee Browne	...	Jebediah Nightlinger
Bruce Dern	...	Long Hair
Colleen Dewhurst	...	Kate
Alfred Barker Jr.	...	Fats - Cowboy
Nicolas Beauvy	...	Dan - Cowboy
Steve Benedict	...	Steve - Cowboy
Robert Carradine	...	Slim Honeycutt - Cowboy
Norman Howell	...	Weedy - Cowboy (as Norman Howell Jr.)
Stephen R. Hudis	...	Charlie Schwartz - Cowboy (as Stephen Hudis)
Sean Kelly	...	Stuttering Bob - Cowboy
A Martinez	...	Cimarron - Cowboy
Clay O'Brien	...	Hardy Fimps - Cowboy
Sam O'Brien	...	Jimmy Phillips - Cowboy
Mike Pyeatt	...	Homer Weems - Cowboy

Runtime:

131 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (35 mm prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Australia:M | Canada:PG (video rating) | West Germany:16 (f) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:12 (video re-rating) (2005) (uncut) | UK:A (original rating) (cut) | UK:PG (video rating) (1987) (cut) | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Bonanza Creek Ranch - 15 Bonanza Creek Lane, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Sanford Productions (III)

Trivia:

Roscoe Lee Browne was urged by his friends not to work with the right-wing John Wayne. He ignored them and the two actors refrained from discussing politics during filming.

Goofs:

Factual errors: On the DVD special features, images of Sarah Cunningham (as Annie Anderson) are used in the "Cast & Crew" information for Colleen Dewhurst.

Quotes:

[the boys are acting innocent, while scheming to steal a bottle of whiskey]
Jedediah Nightlinger: Boys are always guilty of something nasty. What could it be this time, I wonder?

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Running Scared (2006)

The best of the Duke for everyone

Obviously, John Wayne had a long and distinguished career in the movies. Of course, he was merely playing himself time after time. In this movie, that works wonderfully well.

He plays Wil Anderson, a man in his 60s with little else he can do but hire a classroom of boys to help with a cattle drive. This makes for a fun outing for anyone in any age group. Roscoe Lee Browne is well cast here. His scene with Colleen Dewhurst is very well played. Bruce Dern is great, too!

My son, who is a big fan of "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones", pointed out the John Williams music in "The Cowboys"; it is very good indeed.

"The Cowboys" is my choice for the movie to introduce people to John Wayne. It definitely makes you want to see more! Out of four stars, I rate it: ***.5